


Super Rich Kids with Super Rich Friends

by thewifiisout



Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, The Academy Is...
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, F/M, High School, M/M, knock off gossip girl, lovers to rivals to lovers, rich kids, slow to update ive been working on this for a while queens, sorry i know that's weird as hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27686557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewifiisout/pseuds/thewifiisout
Summary: 'hey I’m running against you for student president’ auWilliam Beckett is grounded, he's humble, he's everything that fits what a good candidate should be for Chapman Board. It wasn't William's plan to be president, but he knew he could do it if he really wanted to, also the liquor Mike would give him has been on his mind a lot. Although, when Gabe Saporta gets in trouble for herbal reasons decides to run for president that's when William's plan starts to crumble.
Relationships: (IMPLIED), (past), Frank Iero/Bert McCracken/Gerard Way, William Beckett/Gabe Saporta, William Beckett/Mike Carden, pete wentz/mikey way (if you squint)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. immaculate heart? have you heard of it?

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the characters and this is not true. please do not sue me please do not pull an anne rice. if you know any of these people in real life don't send it to them or read this it's gonna be weird for all of us.

William never wanted to go to Chapman Board preparatory school, but yet he took the tests  _ AND  _ waited for the results, two years went by and now he’s a junior. Sure, he did drama and Latin, god he did so much  _ fucking  _ Latin, but he’d rather be in Boston than Chicago. That’s how he ended up in Chapman Board, no he didn’t get to pick which school he went to, he’d go to Europe if that was the case, but that’s too much to ask for he thinks. 

William and Sisky are putting up a poster that says in large purple letters “ _ VOTE 4 BECKETT _ ” the yellow background will draw attention to it, at least that’s what Sisky thinks. Mike is behind both of them laughing and simultaneously keeping a lookout since they’re supposed to be in their study groups (Mike can’t bear to look at another Latin textbook nor can William). 

“It better be good whiskey, not that new age crap,” William says pointedly as he takes another piece of tape from the scotch tape dispenser. Sisky rolls his eyes, “You don’t even need the 100 William, you just want the whiskey,” Sisky states. Sisky was younger than William, but that didn’t matter. Sisky was the heir to his family’s fortune, everything was to be lined up for him, it’s been like that since the 50s. Sisky is always doing his part, or at least he likes to think he is.

“You just want the whiskey,” William mocks in a high pitched voice shaking his head adamantly to cause even more of a stir, Mike’s laughs turn into loud coughs and the whole group stands up a little straighter than they were before. Their tweed purple jackets are nicely displayed as if they are on a catwalk showing off the latest trends, the yellow polo under it shows just a bit. Sisky checks to see if his shoes are buckled while William quickly puts away the tape.

“Boys,” the female teacher nods her head as she walks past them. She’s wearing a pencil skirt with a sweater vest from the school's alumni store, stuck up William thinks to himself. Sisky can’t peel his eyes away from her legs. She has long blonde hair with a dark complexion. 

“Miss,” they say in unison, smiling being as polite as they can be. they stand like that for a while waiting until they can’t hear her footsteps anymore against the linoleum flooring of the prep school. Mike gives out an exasperated sigh while William gives Sisky a dirty look. 

“What?” Sisky asks pointedly. They all start walking back to the common rooms so they can start on their homework. Sisky always joins the juniors when he studies, mostly because he’s known the Beckett’s since he was a young child. 

“You shouldn’t look at women like that, especially teachers,” William articulates to the younger of the three. Mike nods his head. Mike has a scholarship, like William, but Mike’s parents were average people with average jobs, but they always had the money to afford what they wanted, and that always made Mike question what his parents actually did, so he talked to his great aunt. Mike’s great aunt, Merdle had invested in the oil industry back in the 40s, but his parents never wanted Mike to have a socialite type of life. Mike started to spend his summer with his great aunt and great uncle, he played a lot of golf and started to fit more in with that crowd. 

“Why?” Sisky says a little condescendingly to the two, Mike rolls his eyes. 

“We’re gentlemen,” Mike says confidently, William smiles. The group stops as Mike takes out his house key to open the door to the common area. Mike smiles as he opens the double doors, William thinks in a past life Mike was some Buddy Holly figure because of all the theatrics he partakes in. William straightens up and flattens his tweed jacket. The three walk out and make their way to the couch where everyone else is studying. 

“You look like a Kennedy,” Sisky says to Gerard, the oldest Way brother. Gerard smiles as he looks at himself in the mirror, his purple suit jacket with a white undershirt is truly his favorite combo, but also his silver cross necklace adds a special flare or as much flare you can get in a boarding school. 

“Yeah?” Gerard questions Sisky, Sisky nods, and William grins, he knows what’s coming. “I fuck like one too,” Gerard jokes, MIke and William let out laughter as Sisky turns red he sits down, he lets out a fake-ish laugh to Gerard. 

“Come on man, don’t embarrass the kid,” Bert says from one of the tables, Mike rolls his eyes at Bert. Nobody liked Bert Mccracken, not because he came from an affluent family and he’d probably inherit all of it if that was the case nobody would like each other, no Bert Mccraken’s family had done people dirty and had a lot of promised deals fall through, with all that being said though, William just had a distaste for him because he flaunted his money and had no respect for authority. 

“Yeah,” Sisky agrees, settling down into the couch, Mike smiles. Gerard looks at William, he raises his eyebrows at the skinny brunette. Gerard always thought William looked like a figure out of a Tim Burton movie. William scoffs and sits down, he hated biochemistry and hated that his partner, Gerard, loved it. William misses seeing Mikey, but he’ll deal with Gerard for the time being.

-

Gabe didn’t understand why Pete couldn’t clean up after himself. He didn’t understand why he, the rugby player who didn’t have time at all, had to clean up after Pete, president of the poetry club. Pete was asleep much to Gabe’s dismay, so he couldn’t complain to him about how messy sir Wentz the third was. There’s a knock at the door and Gabe puts down his trash can that is now half full and opens his room door only to be met with one of the school officials. 

“Mister Saporta,” Mister Hall says, Gabe straightens up and turns on one of the light switches, Pete’s groan can be heard in the back while he’s in his bunk. Gabe smiles to his teacher, that Saporta charm is known in all parts of the east coast. The Saporta’s ran a foreign business that moved to the states in the 60s, Gabe’s grandfather told him stories of Woodstock and electric guitars. Gabe Saporta though, was a very charming well-known boy to his father's business associates, while he understood that some children of the rich and wealthy decided to be pristine and be the poster child for the elites of the world, Gabe simply didn’t care to put on a show for this school or anyone for that matter. He saw  _ Prince Harry The Party Boy!  _ In a newspaper and decided that he'd model himself after. The Saporta estate resided in New Jersey, near the Way’s mansion; they grew up together. Gabe understood that he would always have a safe place in his father’s company, so he threw parties without a care in the word, some compared him to Jay Gatsby, but he’d always laugh it off and say they never read the great gatsby. 

“Mister Hall,” Gabe speaks loud enough so Pete understands it’s just not Gerard at the door; Mister Hall smiles at Gabe, “How are you?” Gabe looks at his superior. 

“We need to speak outside mister Saporta, we got some concerning news about your blood test that we need to discuss, your father is on the phone as well,” Gabe nods his head and almost closes his door, but mister Hall peeks his head in, “Mister Wentz, clean up this mess,” is heard flatly in the room. 

Gabe stops in his tracks when he sees the dean, he smiles at him warmly and goes up to shake his hand. Gabe is wearing his purple varsity jacket with a yellow C on it with a white T-shirt underneath it. Mister Lowell had let many of Gabe’s actions be swept under the rug and gotten expunged for the sake of preserving the school’s reputation. Gabe follows the dean into his office, being as patient as he can, Gabe knows why he’s called down, but he just thinks it’s better to act dumb. Gabe sits in the chair right in front of the dean's desk, the dean sits right across from him, the secretary also follows behind them. 

“Mister Saporta,” The dean says, taking a piece of paper out of his desk, “you see, you failed for tobacco and THC,” The dean points to the graph shown on the paper, Gabe stiffens. 

“Well, I had some poppy seeds and coco tea before I took that test, it must have y'know…messed with my results,” Gabe’s voice is clear, he then looks at the secretary writing down every word he’s saying. 

“You’re funny, just like your father,” The dean says, Gabe smiles a little and then looks down at his buckled shoes. Gabe looks at his crimson string bracelet in order to hopefully get out of this somehow, anyway. “But, you are a repeat offender, this is your third time caught with illegal substances Mister Saporta,” Gabe nods, but he smiles when he thinks about going to public school. Smoking weed in the morning and sneaking out of the estate at night, that’s the life he thinks. 

“I think-” Gabe starts to say, he’s immediately met with a look of disgust.   
  


“Don’t interrupt me,” The dean says sternly, Gabe exhales a little. The stale room hasn’t been changed since 1960, it’s older than Gabe’s own mother. “I’m sorry sir,” Gabe says apologetically, he takes another look at the secretary, she was really young, she reminded him of his dad's secretary. 

“Usually we’d have you be kicked out, but your father has made a donation,” The dean points to a check with a considerable amount of zeros that would make anybody's grandmother faint. Gabe smiles and starts to get up. Gabe wondered if his father had just wired in the money and hung up, he thought this was a meeting with him and his dad. 

“Sit,” The command comes quick and Gabe acts like a dog, sitting immediately. Gabe looks around the dean's desk seeing an opened encyclopedia. 

“Sorry,” 

“You will be off the rugby team effective tomorrow,” The dean says, “We have to make an example out of you, students cannot just pay their way through punishments, you have to understand Saporta, I don’t know what the other students know,” 

“I promise you that no other students know,” Gabe is quick to say. 

“You can play next year I promise, you are one of our best players, you make the school proud, we’re definitely going to have a rough year without you, but with this, an issue is raised,” 

“Yeah definitely,” Gabe says, how is he gonna tell the guys, Alex is gonna be crushed that they won’t be able to smoke in the locker room together. “I’m letting my teammates down,” 

“You did that when you picked up the devil's lettuce,” The dean says, Gabe is laughing in his head, he’s seen his dad snort coke anything that the dean says to him goes one ear and out the other. “You will need another extracurricular, and turn in your letterman jacket, I would recommend a poetry club or the student body,” The dean says. It’s not that Gabe hated the idea of poetry it’s just he couldn’t deal with Pete and his emo-ness for 2 hours a day, and the student body seems easy, only that Beckett kid is running and Gabe’s never even seen him before, he must be a freshman or something, he doesn’t even know if freshman can run. 

“Okay Saporta, you can go now,” The dean says, Gabe sighs a little as he stands in the hallway. He smiles when he sees Gerard. 

“Mister Way,” Gabe grins sweetly at him, Gerard grins at him looking like a vampire out of a twilight movie. Gerard’s faint red eyeliner that you can see even with his sunglasses on makes Gabe giggle, but Gerard just rolls his eyes. Gerard takes his sunglasses out of his coat, “So, party tonight, you coming?” Gerard asks, “I got a ride he can pick us up at like 7, and then some guys are coming for Mikey at 6:30,”

“You Ways,” Gabe can’t believe how Gerard got away with the things he did, but he  _ swears  _ his parents must have ties or something because Gerard never seems to get in trouble with the cops, if it’s not a family affair his parents definitely pay someone off. “I know,” Gerard grins, “We have such a  _ way _ , us Ways,” Gerard clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth. Gabe rolls his eyes and then grabs onto Gerards coat, “Come on, show me how you hide your Dunhills,” Gabe says, following Gerard to his room.

“Gabriel you’re such a bad influence,” 

“Don’t call me Gabriel unless we’re dating,” Gabe says, Gerard smirks, “we are not dating,” Gabe states. Both boys laugh as they skip down the halls of Chapman. 

  
  


William sighs as he looks into the mirror trying to do something with his hair, it’s been a while since he’s gone out. Mikey is laying on Mike’s bed, Mike is currently hanging out with the girls trying to play tonsil tennis with Victoria Asher, but William isn’t trying to think about that. Mikey knew that bringing William out would be good, Boston gets boring quickly when it’s just him and Gerard, he’s happy he has someone like William to “rich kid party with” he called it, but it was really just house parties in basements with wooden flooring and a pool table. 

“What should I wear?” William is looking through his wardrobe consisting of white collared shirts, different colored polos, and some t-shirts from different states or just from his older cousin’s band (the more exciting side of the family). 

Mike rolls over on the bed, looking at William upside down now, “Nothing that says you’re from a boarding school, or you know, you have money,” Mikey says offhandedly, “Do you have any magazines?” Mikey asks, William lets out a sound of annoyance, giving away the answer automatically. 

“So this and some jeans?” William pulls out a shirt that says, “Greetings from Florida,” with a sun whose paired with some sunglasses, it looks like a 5-year-olds idea of comedy. Mikey looks at him and then gets off the bed. 

“You seriously need help Beckett, I can’t believe you’re not a virgin, you can barely dress,” Mikey brings out a black polo and some blue jeans, he doesn’t say anything and just hands them to William. 

“Polo?” William questions, Mikey rolls his eyes. 

“How are  _ you  _ the gay one?” Mikey scoffs. “It’ll look like a crop top, that is  _ way  _ too small for you, it’s hot,” Mikey nods his head like he’s Anna Wintour and it’s fashion week in Paris. William adverts his eyes, but he starts changing. 

“This better look good Mikey, I swear,” William rustles his way in the black polo making it seem like an Olympic sport. William flattens his polo that really does look like a crop top and jimmies on the denim jeans. 

“You’re so into the dramatics,” Mikey looks into the mirror with William next to him, “You’re so hot,” 

“Dude, please I’m not into you like that,” William laughs. 

“Why would you-never mind, you’re so  _ annoying _ , I’m trying to be nice-”

“You need to get laid,” William interjects, Mikey scowls. Sure, William was a nice classy schoolboy, but of course, he was always mean to Mikey, like a kid brother. Mikey always seemed like he’d live in Gerard’s shadow, but that was far from the truth. Mikey had his own interests, and Gerard did too, the only people that confused them were people that were unimportant, or at least that’s what William thought.

“Grab your camels we need to go,” Mikey starts looking at his sidekick, William grabs his yellow blazer with purple lining, he shoves the cigarettes further into the pocket. Mikey opens the door, he peeks out looking left and right. William pushes him out the door frame, “Come on, nobody is even out, everyone is at prayer,” 

“Everyone is at prayer,” Mikey mocks as he and William run down the hallway together reaching the door to their ‘getaway car’.

  
  


The party wasn’t anything William wasn’t used to, it was in the suburbs of Boston, which William didn’t mind, it just wasn’t worth half of his pack of cigarettes in exchange for a ride. Sure, he was standing in front of a wall drinking out of some beer bottle that claimed to be made in Germany, but William swears it tastes Italian. There are some boys he’s watching, they’re playing beer pong and laughing as if they’re sober and pretending to be drunk, it’s obnoxious, but the one guy with dark hair is looking at him every 30 seconds, which William thinks is endearing, but Mikey disagrees. Gerard hasn’t come yet, William wants to see if he and Gerard can play beer pong with cranberry juice or seltzer water. 

“How do you know these guys again,” William whispers to Mikey as he is still up against the cream-colored wall, Mikey seems to know everyone William thinks. 

“They’re my brothers’ friends' dad's business associates son, why?” Mikey says a little off-handedly trying to focus on the game going on in front of him. William doesn’t care to answer back, he moves to the other side of the basement. The other side of the basement is filled with girls and boys, sitting, laughing, eating, every action William can think of really. He plops down on the couch in between a goth girl and her friend that is wearing a babydoll floral dress. 

“Do you guys mind?” William asks, blushing a little since he should’ve done it before he sat. They shake their heads and indulge him in a conversation he’s been meaning to have with Sisky about sexuality in the Catholic Church. 

“William, dude, get up,” Gerard speaks up to William, he passes him a cigarette. “Come on, Mikey is playing beer pong, let’s watch,” William gets up waving goodbye to the girls.

“Dude what the fuck are you wearing,” Gerard says as he settles into the wall that William was once previously standing at with Mikey, William looks at him with a disgusted face. 

“What the fuck am I wearing?” William mocks the question and then rolls his eyes at Gerard, “What are you wearing,” William looks at Gerard’s outfit consisting of a denim jacket and a misfits t-shirt. Gerard didn’t care how he presented himself. 

“You’re wearing a crop top,” 

“It’s a  _ POLO _ ,” William screams to Gerard. Gerard gives William a sour look, his eyebrows furrow. William scowls back at Gerard, but William’s scowl is soon taken over with the face of confusion with an unfamiliar touch to his shoulder accompanying it. Whoever this was had their arm laid upon William’s shoulder. Forward, William liked forward.    
  


“Ladies, ladies, please, you’re both pretty,” William hears from his right shoulder, William looks to see who the arm belonged to, a tall (taller than him, so you know he’s tall) man with dark hair and bright clothing compared to every wannabe frat boy William saw. 

“Excuse me?” William says striking the taller boy with daunting eyes. Gerard laughs at William’s reaction. 

“William this is Ga-” Gerard starts to say but is swiftly interrupted by the oldest Saporta boy. 

“Gabriel,” Gabe says to William, William leans into Gabe, well Gabriels, shoulder.  _ Oh _ , Gerard thinks, but he just raises an eyebrow at the two. 

“Let me get you a drink, you don’t look like you’re from around these parts,” Gabe says. William nods, he lets him. William isn’t easy at all, but he’s not opposed to a hot guy from Boston getting him a drink at a shitty party. William will never see him again, so a few drinks and some stupid rendezvous didn’t sound that bad to him. Gabriel comes back with two Peronis in his hands.

“You like Italian?” Gabe questions, William cocks his head thinking about how far he’d go with  _ Gabriel _ , if that even is his name. William knew it was Italian, it tasted too good to be german. The longer-haired boy grabs a beer bottle from the taller one. 

“Thank you,” William says, he opens the bottle and takes a quick swig without looking at Gabe. 

“I didn’t catch your name,” Gabe says, he just has this aura about him that makes William want to pounce on him, but William isn’t sure if Gabe likes forward. 

“It’s Bill,” William says quickly, Gabe raises his eyebrows but doesn’t say anything. William raises his eyebrows back. “What?” William questions. 

“You don’t look like a Bill, what’s your last name,” 

“What’s your last name?” William counters back. Gabe starts laughing immediately. 

“You’re really funny,” Gabe says as he puts his hand on William’s hair, William immediately swats Gabe’s hand away from him. Gabe looks really familiar to William, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. 

“Dude, don’t touch my hair,” William is quick to say in an annoyed tone

“Oh yeah? Or what?” Gabe smirks, William doesn’t scoff, he doesn’t frown, he smirks back. 

“I-” William starts to say leaning towards Gabe, but he jolts back, his hand is grabbed out of nowhere, it catches him a little off guard. 

“Hey, is this guy bothering you?” The guy with the dark hair from before says to William, he looks up immediately at Gabe. William would find this endearing if Gabe was a total creep, but he was actually having a good time despite trying to avoid the fact that he is probably the only one here lying about his identity

“and you are?” Gabe questions, he cocks his head at the guy and laughs a little. William leans toward Gabe’s shoulder. 

“Oh,” The other guy says, he looks at William. William doesn’t say anything he just takes a sip of his beer.

“Dude,” Gabe says, “Quit it,” His tone changes when he talks to the guy, it reminds William of boarding school. William clutches his hand to Gabe’s arm. William isn’t a damsel, he could’ve taken him, but he likes to see how people handle situations. 

“Do you wanna uh-” William’s speech turns into a grin as he blushes when Gabe raises a single eyebrow at him. William turns back to see if Gerard is occupied with Mikey playing beer pong, thankfully he is. 

“You wanna go smoke outside?” Gabe says, William rolls his eyes but does follow Gabe outside with Gerard’s cigarette still in his hand. Gabe says a few “heys” and what’s ups” to people as they are walking to the front steps of the house. 

Boston at night has always been pretty to William. It’s dark, but the street lamps keep the two lit as they smoke Gabe’s cloves. The green grass compliments the pink rubber band on William’s wrist, they sit on the front steps, Gabe lets William lean on him. 

“Hey,” William whispers to Gabe, Gabe doesn’t wait for William to finish his theatre performance because he can one of them is way into the theatrics, and it’s not Gabe. “Come here,” Gabe mutters waiting for the heat to set in. Their lips brush together slowly, a rhythm starts going when William clutches a hand onto Gabe’s shirt. William leans away from Gabe, he inhales the cigarette while Gabe sits back and looks at what Boston has to offer other than it’s the night sky and private schools, the stars barely sparkle here Gabe thinks. 

“I have to go,” William says to Gabe, he feels his phone buzzing, he knows it’s Mikey. William drops his cigarette on the concrete steps, Gabe puts it out with his buckled shoes. William looks at Gabe, who the hell wears buckled shoes by choice. Gabe grabs William’s shirt collar, he likes polos he’s decided. 

“Gabriel, I have to leave,” 

“Bill, it’s only 9,” Gabe says to him, almost whining at this point, sure Gabe had to be at Chapman at 9:30, but William didn’t have to know that Gabe thought. 

“I’ll see you later,” William says, his mind made up, and he didn’t know this area well enough to walk to Chapman. Gabe lets go of his shirt collar. 

“Yeah,” Gabe says to him as he looks at William in front of him, he looks good in the moonlight, Gabe is glad this house is on a hill, it makes everything seem so much more thematic, “Later,” He says, it echoes as William is walking back in the house. Gabe wonders what Bill’s last name is, he wonders if Bill recognized him, he wonders a lot about Bill as Gerard and him drive home at 9:20 pm only making it in their beds at a split second. Gabe doesn’t get attached, but usually, people will recognize him from the paper or from appearing for a split second in god awful MTV shows, but Bill didn’t seem to do any of that, Gabe is intrigued by a polo wearing boy who could probably care less about him. Pete is spending the night in Mikey’s room which Gabe finds revolting, but he keeps his opinions to himself. He has the room to himself, but he doesn’t want to smoke. Gabe doesn’t want to think about being kicked off the rugby team, he doesn’t want to think about being a Saporta, he just wants to sleep. 

Mike wasn’t usually late to classes and William wasn’t either, a scholarship was easy to obtain but easier to lose. It was 7:50 am and classes started at 8 am. They had been woken up by a banging on their door, by  _ the  _ Adam T. Siska. They weren’t usually this careless but William had stayed up doing his English homework and Mike had forgotten to set his alarm. 

“I don’t understand why you feel that need to still be here, thank you for waking us up-” William starts to say, he puts on a Chapman sweater over this white collared shirt, purple and yellow really compliments him.

“But get out,” Mike says pointedly at Sisky, Sisky groans as he sits on Mike’s bed, he watches Mike try to decide if he should wear a polo or a sweater. 

“Dude, I have news,” Sisky says, he clutches his books planning his escape once he says what he needs. 

“Spill,” William buckles his shoes, he hates these shoes. Mike looks over at William, he chuckles a little, William was a drama queen, Mike’s always said it. 

“So dude like-” Sisky trembles over his words a little.

“Adam,” Mike murmurs. William gives Mike a look, but he bites his tongue. 

“OKAY! So, anyway,” Sisky looks directly at Mike changing his tone, “Saporta has decided to run against William for student president,” Sisky smirks because why wouldn’t they want to hear this news, it’s important and they should really be thanking him. Where would they be without me, is all Sisky can think. 

“Who even is that,” William says, Mike can’t understand how William doesn’t know who Gabe Saporta is, even Bert knows him. William raises up a hand at Mike before he can say anything, “I don’t care, we’re late for biology,” William gets up grabbing his books, he opens the door looking at the two men, “Well?” He asks, Mike scoffs, but he snaps his fingers and has Sisky up following William and him. 

“Dude, Saporta will eat you alive,” William rolls his eyes, he starts walking faster to try to get to biology.

Gabe had dragged Gerard out of his dorm at 6:50 am to explain to him why he was running for school president. Gerard was very tired, coffee cup in hand and all. Today was a bright day, he thought, under his gray fur coat he had on a yellow polo and khaki pants (hey! he had to dress it up somehow). Gabe had woken up the whole Way-McCraken-Iero dorm, Gabe didn’t care about Gerard and his boyfriends. 

“Dude, y'know Pete right?” Gabe looks at the time on his sidekick, he sighs as it’s almost 8 am, he really doesn’t want to go to learn about the US government. Gerard nods, how could he not know Gabe’s roommate. “He slept in your brother’s room last night, just thought you should know since….he’s your brother,” Gabe says smiling, he likes talking shit, that’s all rich people do anyway. 

“Why did you quit rugby so suddenly?” Gerard says to him, Gabe lets out a sigh. Gerard has been pestering Gabe all morning about why he had a change of heart, but Gabe can’t, of course, tell anyone about the circumstances of his uhhh….sudden leave of absence from the rugby team. 

“I got bored, besides I’ve never done anything like this” Gabe says quickly, it was either this or poetry club. Gerard smiles at him. No, Gabe isn’t going into a deep depression and he doesn’t have anything to prove, as much as Gerard wants to think Gabe is going through some psychotic break or his daddy issues are to an all-time high that’s not the case at all, he just doesn’t want to get kicked out of Chapman, besides he’d like to see Bill again. 

“Okay, whatever you say, it’s only two people running, but aren’t you-” Gerard starts to say, but looks up at Gabe smirking at him. He stops talking. 

“Aren’t you late for bio?” Gabe questions, Gerard looks at his watch and immediately leaves, he’ll get away with it Gabe thinks, he always does. Gabe sees a  _ VOTE 4 BECKETT _ sign and sighs, he needs a cigarette. 

  
  


“Gerard, I really like your coat,” Mike says as he settles into the seat in the lecture hall, William sighs a little, that coat looks like a huge blanket to him. 

“Thank you, Michael,” Gerard says, he smiles once he meets Mike’s eye, Mike winks back. William rolls his eyes, Gerard just wants Mike to do his bio homework, and Mike is straight right now, so there’s no need to even entertain the idea of them together. William tucks a strain of hair behind his ear, he doesn’t know how he’s going to dissect a frog when Gerard couldn’t even tell you where the liver is. 

“So, did you hear,” the oldest Way brother starts to say, he rustles some fingers through his hair, 6:50 am doesn’t give him time to brush his hair. William looks at him blankly, he passes Mike the paper so they’re all able to do the lab report on time. “Gabe Saporta is running against you for president,” Gerard says looking directly at William when William doesn’t say anything Gerard looks at Mike who's just scribbling down notes about frogs. 

“I know, that guy from Maryland is also running, I don’t know who this Saporta guy is, but he came in a little too late,” William says if he has to hear about this one more time he might just take the rest of the day off. Gerard gives William a stare of disbelief, but he drops the whole conversation of the race.

“ Victoria keeps looking at me and at first I was like flattered you know, but I feel like my aunt would really like Cassadee and she has a summer house near my aunt’s house,” Mike says as he still scribbles down notes, Gerard crosses his arms and nods, “Yeah Mike, Asher puts out though,” Gerard mutters as he tries (for once) to focus on the Biology textbook.

“She’s no muse, that Victoria,” William adds to the conversation, head leaning back in the bio class, their teacher had been gone for 20 minutes, “more like a siren,” William says sharply, there’s animosity between the two Gerard thinks. 

“William, you can’t just say that about women,” Mike says blankly. William quirks an eyebrow and cocks his head at his roommate, “Mike you were just talking about sleeping with her, I think I can call her a siren,” William says flatly, he presses his hands down on his yellow sweatshirt ignoring that he and Gerard are matching. “Besides, she’s such a bitch in the poetry club,” William adds, he wasn’t in the poetry club, but he’s heard Mikey talk about it here and there. 

“Speaking of the poetry club, Pete keeps giving me the weirdest looks, I swear it’s like I pissed in his cereal or something,” Gerard says

“Whatever man,” Mike says, “Hey, go turn this in for us,” Mike passes the paper to William, Gerard eyes it quickly making sure his name is on the paper. William walks down to the teacher’s desk, although he is absent they should still turn their assignments in. The bell rang before William could even sit back in his seat, he didn’t even say goodbye to Mike because Mike needed to go play racquetball or croquet. William forgets what sport it is, Gerard does too. 

“He’s in such a hurry all the time,” William says clutching his books, his tone changes as he talks to Gerard, “It worries me, Gerard,” William says, Gerard nods. They wait until the lecture hall is almost empty. They start walking in the living area, William thinks it’s funny that Gerard lives with two guys that want to fuck him.

“Bert is such an asshole,” Gerard says as he moves Bert’s clothes off of his bed. William thinks Gerard should try both of them out, but then again everyone thinks William is easy when he isn’t trying to impress someone. 

“What does he even do?”

“Plays or some shit, and then the new guy just stays in here, the dean feels bad for him, but like I don’t get why he’s homesick,” Gerard looks around for his Ed Hardy sunglasses, it matches his gray jacket. 

“Frank, right?” William asks Gerard nods. Gerard picks up his phone call and a couple of “yeah” and “okays” come out of his mouth. “Come on, I’m gonna go study Latin, wanna come with?” They go walk to the library, William stops a few times to buckle his shoes. 

“You look cute in that sweatshirt,” Gerard teases, he pokes William’s back with his shoe while the other is on the aged floors of the school doing something that he considered a chore. William rolls his eyes when he gets up. 

“Gerard! I’ve been looking all over for you!” A man exclaims from behind, William doesn’t look to see who it is, but the voice sounds familiar. Gabe hands Gerard a flyer and William wants to faint, no, he could actually faint. 

“Whose you’re- _ oh _ ,” Gabe turns around to see William, well Bill he thought. There was something angelic about William, maybe it was the way the yellow gave him a halo, or maybe it’s that Gabe hasn’t gotten laid in weeks.

“I thought you went to i-immaculate heart or public school,” William stutters out, Gerard really  _ really  _ wants to laugh. Gabe smiles warmly at the boy in the sweatshirt 2 sizes too big. 

“There’s no immaculate heart in Boston,” Gabe points out to William, he passes him a flyer, “Do you mind putting this up Bill,” Gabe says. William looks at the poster, it’s white and it’s glossy reminding him of an expensive magazine he’d see Paris Hilton in, the poster reads “vote for Saporta,” William is going to have a stroke, just his luck he thinks.

“You’re Gabe Saporta aren’t you,” William questions looking at the poster, he doesn’t look at Gabe, he sees Gerard smiling, William knows this is gonna be all sorts of messed up. Gerard says something and enters the library

“And you’re Bill,” Gabe says immediately, he tries to lean towards Wiliam’s body, William jolts back.

“I’m William, William Beckett,” William says, trying to make his point, he gives back the poster. Oh, Gabe thinks,  _ oh _ . Gabe looks William in the eye, it’s not like they knew each other, they didn’t hook up, but Gabe still felt this way that William was some sort of savior type, a light on his life that didn’t seem to be going his way right now. Neither of them were expecting to do this, to see each other right now, not here of all places. 

“So that’s your last name,” Gabe chuckles, William rolls his eyes at him. 

  
“Don’t,” William says clearly, he clutches his nails in his leather books on his chest digging them in the textured book, the contrast of the brown books against his mostly yellow sweater that makes Gabe think he's in a Wes Anderson film. “Gabe, I’ll see you later,” William looks in the other direction facing away from Gabe, he looks at him one last time before leaving,  _ fucking dramatic _ Gabe thinks. He watches William walk away, the light leaves Gabe’s eye. 


	2. 2: Gabe, never forget

Days past and exams come and go, which depending on who you ask could really go both ways. William has tried to get his mind off the boy from the party, or who he now knows as Gabe Saporta, son of one of the richest families off the east coast, next to the Way brothers. The days have become more and more tied together for William. He's consumed himself in Latin literature and speech writing for the upcoming debates, also he’s been smoking more cigarettes, but he can quit whenever he needs to, or at least that’s what he keeps telling himself. Finding out the news about Gabe Saporta had led to William and Mikey texting under the table of his next class, how could Mikey  _ NOT  _ tell William that the boy at the party was Gabe Saporta, but in Mikey’s defense he was playing beer pong with some homoerotic undertones to it, at least that’s how he described it. Although news got around the group of William’s friends, first it was Gerard telling Mike the next time they had biochem together, then it was Mikey telling Sisky when they happened to see each other in the bathroom, and it finally came to a full stop when Mike told Cassadee and Victoria. 

“So, what are you gonna do about it?” Sisky asks William. Sisky is snuggled in the armchair near the fireplace in the common area of the boarding school. Sisky is wearing his older brother’s old Chapman sweater, it reads “seniors 1997” on it, Sisky wishes his brother was still around to wear it, but he can’t have everything he wants he thinks. The aura of fire brings William a sense of tranquility, something he hasn’t been able to have lately. 

“About what?” William questions, there were a lot of things he needed to do, but he didn’t think Sisky would be interested honestly. Sisky looks to the side of him, he faces William in the armchair a few feet away from him. 

“Gabe, running against you,” Sisky says blankly, “You know William when I agreed to help you-”

“I didn’t ask Siska,” William is swift, being a lawyer's son comes in handy sometimes. Sisky rolls his eyes. 

“When I offered my help to you, I didn’t think you’d be so...reluctant to get dirty, that’s all politics is anyway,” Sisky says calmly. William keeps his eyes on the fire, he really didn’t care for the politics of Chapman or any social club for that matter. 

“Sisky,” William exhales, “there isn’t even anything to play dirty with, from what I've heard he can do no wrong,” William’s thumb presses up against his own shirt collar, he stays fiddling with it while still keeping his eyes on the fire in front of him. Mike walks over to the two, his hair is wet and he’s wearing a tweed jacket over his white t-shirt. Mike smiles once he stands in front of the two. 

“I have an answer to solve all of our problems,” Mike smiles, that cocky grin could mean a lot of things, last time Mike smiled like that Sisky ended up going on a date with a debutante that Mike’s aunt set him up with. Sisky still had fun though, but William wasn’t too sure if this grin would go the same way. “I heard some dirt on Saporta,” Mike whispers, William rolls his eyes and shoots a glare at Sisky. 

“Okay, come on, just spill it out,” William deadpans to Mike, he doubts Mike has found any information that would make people hate Gabe though, the guy was untouchable. 

“I heard from Joe that he was in the Dean's office, he was almost expelled, that has to be true because you know Joe sets up the meetings for the dean, it was something with narcotics,” Sisky smiles grimly, William crosses his arms and inhales. 

“I can’t say he does drugs in front of the whole school, I mean everyone does a little something, but-” William points out. 

“But, you can say that it’s not in his heart to actually be president, “ Mike interrupts, “he’s just doing this because he was told!” Mike exclaims, he gets a few stares from other students which makes William want to shrivel up in a ball. “Also, why did I have to find out from a Way brother you made out with him,” Mike laughs, Sisky joins adding some comment about Mikey that William couldn't really care for. 

“So that’s the plan,” William cradles his cheek into his hand letting his elbow rest on the armrest, he stares into the stone fireplace. “I don’t think I’m going to use that plan, it’s sneaky to use information that isn’t in the public's view,”

“William, we need you to bring it to other people’s attention, imagine if he wins, he’s gonna fuck everything up, you of all people should know how hard we fought for those choice clothes day, Saporta is gonna take it all away,” Sisky asserts, William sighs. 

“I don’t know, we’ll see” William mumbles, he stands out of the chair stretching. “I’m gonna go to bed, I’ll see you Mike, see you Sisky,” William waves and quickly leaves the two. Mike looks at Sisky as he settles into the armchair. 

“He’s totally going to win,” Sisky says with confidence to the older boy, “William’s feelings are just getting in the way, but he’ll win, trust me,” 

  
  


Gabe was confident, he was a Saporta, it’s in his blood. Gerard is sitting on Pete’s bed, Gabe really has no idea where Pete is (he’s on the sophomore floor for something) but he’s not worried about the poetry club's president at this moment. Gerard is half asleep with Latin homework surrounding his body, Gerard knows Italian, not Latin. 

“Are you writing your speech like I told you too?” Gerard asks, he looks over across from him to see what Gabe is writing. Gabe is sitting on his dead and writing on notecards while he sits on his purple and yellow sheets, the school colors always felt like home to him. 

“Yeah, but Gerard,” Gabe starts to say, Gerard swipes the cards out of Gabe’s hands trying to position himself on the bed comfortable enough to read Gabe’s speech. Gabe grabs Gerard’s wrist, it earns him a dirty look. 

“President isn’t just a position, it’s an idea-Gabe what the fuck is this,” Gerard starts laughing, he drops the note cards on the floor. The door opens to a disheveled Pete Wentz with a copy of a Shakespeare classic from the 1500s, it’s an heirloom. Pete Wentz or better known as Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz iii is loaded, but as Gerard always says money can’t buy style. Pete would wear whatever Chanel comes out with that season. Pete has 2 older siblings, so he’ll inherit what he can, but he’s really just at Chapman to have fun. He’s an heir and there’s enough money for him to do anything. 

“Pete,” Gabe speaks up, Pete waves weakly and slouches in the doorway of their bedroom. 

“Are you going to the debate ceremony, or are you chickening out?” Pete has always seen Gabe as a coward, despite what everyone else may think of Gabe. 

“It’s at 5 pm,” Gabe scoffs, Pete doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Pete always thinks he knows everything, which Gabe thinks is the most bothersome thing to happen since they banned mp3 players at school.    
  


“They changed it to 4:30 genius,” Pete smirks back, Gabe stands up and picks up his notecards. He ‘accidentally’ bumps into Pete, which makes Pete roll his eyes. He fast-walks to the auditorium wings, Gerard follows behind him trying to catch up to Gabe. Something about sprinting down the halls of Chapman brings Gabe an adrenaline rush, something a drug could only wish to give him. He’s a Saporta, even when they tried to kick him out they couldn’t get rid of him, some may call him a cockroach, others persistent. Gabe’s been in the local news more times than he can count, he’s a rich kid yeah, but he has  _ the  _ personality, he has  _ that  _ charisma only that the Saporta family had. 

“Gabe, you’re going to be-you’ll be great,” Gerard says catching his breath, hands on his knees slightly slouching. They’ve both made it to the wings near the auditorium, they’re watching Patrick Stump talk to the scattered auditorium. Patrick was a sophomore like Mikey, but he dreamed bigger than any other kid at Chapman, he’s a scholarship kid which honestly, explains a lot. 

“I know I’m gonna do great Gerard,” Gabe’s assuring voice brings Gerard back to summer days when he used to smoke with Gabe in the Saporta estate. “You know who I am,” Gabe states, “I’m Gabe  _ fucking  _ Saporta,” He says with just a bit of condescension to his voice. Gabe looks over to the wings of the auditorium, he sees 4 other bodies, but quickly turns away from Gerard’s hands catching his attention. 

“I’m not taking sides, the Way brothers don’t take sides,” Gabe can tell that Gerard has thought a lot about this, more than Gabe thought about his own speech. Ten dollars says that Mikey is with that William guy right now, Gabe thinks. Gerard looks over to one of the new kids, Ryan Gabe thinks. Ryan whispers something in Gerard’s ear, but Gabe isn’t paying that close of attention to anything that isn’t his speech. Gerard tugs on Gabe’s jacket, he doesn’t know if it’s from Abercrombie or American Eagle, but it’s not tweed. Gerard points to where Gabe should stand, Gabe can take it from here he thinks. 

William isn’t scared, he’s just not used to speaking on stage in front of his peers. Only 15-ish kids showed up(Pete convinced the poetry club and lit society to come down), but still, it’s only the first rounds of student debates. 

As all three candidates walk to the auditorium stage William feels his pant leg caught onto something, he trips and looks up to see Gabe turned around, laughing at him. William tries to laugh it off and sits on the purple couch at the center of the stage. Alex, the Sophmore from Baltimore, sits between both Gabe and William. There isn’t much known about Alex, only that his father has an oil company in Asia. 

“So, let’s just go straight into the questions,” Patrick says to the three of them after he introduces all of them, Gabe wanted to fall asleep already. “This one is for Alex,” Patrick says, William slouches down in the cushions. A couple more minutes pass, William looks to the wings and sees Gerard and Mikey talking about something, but his ears are preoccupied with Alex talking about how he would spread positivity throughout the school. There’s a sense of pressure because they only get one question each. 

“Gabe,” Patrick words slice through the microphone, Gabe’s looking at Patrick fully now, sitting up straight and smiling. “What do you feel about the divide between students who have scholarships and students who pay to go here,” Patrick asks. 

Gabe instantly stands up, William rolls his eyes, Alex groans. Gabe smiles and looks at the handful of students, Gabe chuckles a little. 

“I’ve been going to this school longer than I can remember, hell, I've been going to boarding school since the 1st grade, but I’ve never seen that much of a divide here, but I've seen a divide with the scholarship kids,” Gabe says calmly, William sits up.

“There are two types of scholarship kids, ones who can afford it but still apply for the program, or ones who actually need the program,” Gabe stuffs the index cards that were in his hands to his pocket. He understands 

“Don’t you think it’s selfish that these students are taking away an opportunity from children who don’t have another alternate way of getting it,” Gabe states, “don’t you think that it’s selfish for someone to take a spot that they can afford when there are only 40-ish new spots a year?” Gabe elaborates, a murmur starts among the students, Gabe narrows his eyes at William. 

Then Patrick calls on William’s name, of course, he goes last, he gets to be the person they leave with, which honestly William doesn’t mind. William looks at his shoes to make sure they’re buckled.

“William, what do you think it means to be a president?” Patrick smiles at William. Just like Gabe, William rises from the chair, letting the group of students see his long legs and showing off his shaggy brown hair in the light of the stage. 

“To be President is better than being a king, I feel like in America we lose sight of that sometimes,” William starts to ramble, “Being in Champan is like being under British rule sometimes, don’t you think?” William chuckles, earning a laugh from half of the students. “A president-a  _ leader-  _ is chosen by the people for the people,” William turns around to look at his opponents.  _ Yeah _ , William thinks, he  _ has  _ to do it. 

“I don’t believe a president should just randomly come into a race, either, it’s unscholarly and shows a lack of yearning. Even if they got kicked off a sports team or booted from the chess club, a president should want to serve the people, to help make changes in their community. They shouldn’t run because they were breaking the rules and had to do this as a last resort,” William inhales, more people start to come into the auditorium “A president needs to focus on the people, the  _ students _ , not how to sneak out of mass,” William knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t care. He flashes Gabe another glance before he sits down. William made it so obvious that even Patrick is giving Gabe a dirty look. Gabe starts to look at the wings to see if Gerard is mouthing anything to him, but all he can see is Ryan Ross smiling.

-

“We need to get something from Gerard’s dorm, my mom sent a letter,” Mikey says. It’s not like William and him were doing anything, it’s just that it’s been a while since William had ever been around Mikey. William had been handing out buttons and volunteering but on top of all that he had to study and talk to his parents on the phone here and there. William had been spending most of his study time with that new kid, Ross is his name, but Mikey only heard that from Gerard because Gerard saw them in the library when his roommates were fighting about who was going to wash the sheets that month. 

“I swear,” William starts to get up out of the rocking chair he was relaxing in, “Gerard acts like a snob and a half sometimes, all he does is write letters and play poker,” William grins at Mikey. William and Mikey were in the garden, William was reading some Virginia Woolf and Mikey was reading the new diary of a wimpy kid book, Mikey claims it’s ironic, but William (and Gerard!) think otherwise. 

“Yeah, but he’s my brother so your argument holds no weight,” Mikey mutters, the way brothers had always said blood is thicker than water, so William doesn’t pay much mind to this. “Besides I don’t understand why my mom doesn’t just email, it’s not like I’m going to get it faster,” Mikey talks with his hands mirroring Gerard and what William has seen of Mikey’s mother.

“Letters are kind of special though, I see the point why your mom writes and not emails, you aren’t her worker,” William opens the door for Mikey to get into the junior hallway. William tries to read the numbers down the hallway, but all he can focus on is the grandfather clock that’s ticking. The halls are decorated with “vote 4 Beckett” posters and “I Saporta you!” posters, William is more than sure Alex has posters down the sophomore hallway. 

“Do you want my hoodie?” Mikey asks William in a hushed voice, William shakes his head. William stays behind Mikey as the other knocks on the door, “Gerard, mom told me you had a letter for me!” Mikey whisper screams. William rolls his eyes and laughs a little, Bert McCraken opens the door smiling. 

“Come in, sit down,” His eyes shoot to William, they both go in nodding. Mikey makes his way to Gerard’s room, familiar he knows this dorm-like the back of his hand considering it’s his brother’s. Gerard has expressed his concern to William once or twice about his living situation, it’s not the best but at least they get their own common area. 

There are 3 boys at the dorm, they all signed up to live together, although Frank Iero, the new scholarship kid, isn’t supposed to be living here. The story reads like a news article. Adam Lazzara, Gerard’s best friend and Bert’s somewhat boy toy, had left Chapman to go to a different boarding school, immaculate heart in California. Lazzara hadn’t told anyone, his family was ashamed by his father's actions since he was a John to some women on the street and it had gotten out to the public, he didn’t want to tell anyone he was going to the west coast, nor was he allowed to. Frank Iero’s family’s business isn’t actually unknown to most of the school, which isn’t surprising, Frank has no long-lasting family wealth nor does he have any family secrets that have been involved in high society, therefore his family drama is unknown to the students and teachers at Chapman. Frank had applied to a scholarship out of spite, he really didn’t think he’d get it, but he was wrong, and really stuck it to his mom in the process. 

“Gabe,” William nods his head at the older when he sees him sitting at the table with the two other boys. Gabe nods back, he mutters something, but William can’t pick it up. William sits down with the rest of the guys, he hopes Mikey hurries. 

“Dude,” Frank Iero pipes up to the table, “Why are you guys still on question three? You lived in Jersey, you should be able to get that?” 

“I wasn’t in NJ in 2001, besides why does that matter, it doesn’t relate to the question” Gabe gives Frank a clueless look. William rolls his eyes, “Do you mind?” He asks Bert pointing at the paper. Bert gives William a toothy grin and a nod, William exhales and looks at number three. A laugh erupts from the candidate. 

“Gabe,  _ never  _ forget,” William chuckles, Bert laughs with him. 

“Well, I forgot,” Gabe grumbles looking at his paper, he can’t even remember last year let alone 2001. Frank excuses himself, mass starts at 3 pm for him. 

“It was 9/11 Gabe,” Gerard scoffs walking into the common area of his dorm. Gabe blushes, but also starts writing down the answers. 

“Bill! So nice to see you without that Ross guy next to you looking like a lost little puppy,” Gerard pokes William in the stomach, a smile flashes over Gerard’s face. Mikey sits at the table, quickly replacing Frank. Mikey snorts and Gabe looks up. 

“Nooo, he’s with me now,” Bert smiles at William and makes grabby hands. 

“Ross is gonna be mad,” Gabe murmurs, he winks at William. William feels someone else’s shoes touching his, it’s probably Mikey’s so he doesn’t mind playing footsie. 

“Ryan’s okay, he needs friends he just started, we can’t be hostile towards new students,” William says assuringly like he’s back on the school stage. 

“Is he old money?” Gerard asks, he takes out his sidekick and starts texting someone. 

“Yeah, but I think his dad is in trouble with the law or something because he was telling me that someone in vegas is out to get him,” William says. Bert chuckles at ‘old money’, which is ironic. 

“Vegas,” Mikey echos out. William’s phone buzzes a little, he picks up his phone letting the stories from vegas be in the background. 

_ why are u playing footsie with gabe lol ? did you guys talk about the party? - gee :D _

Suddenly William’s feet stop and he puts down the phone. “U-Uh I have to leave, you know I don’t like to leave my dorm for too long,” William points at the door with his thumb. “I’ll come with, I have to wake up Pete,” Gabe adds. Gerard smirks and sits down in the chair William was sitting in. 

William gets out the door before Gabe does, but Gabe ends up catching up to him in the hallway. 

“We don’t have to be mean to each other,” Gabe says in a hushed voice to William. William doesn’t mind that the taller is this close to him, he doesn’t mind at all really. 

“You insulted me in front of the whole school,” William interjects. Gabe rolls his eyes at him. 

“ _ ‘The whole school’ _ ” Gabe mocks William, “It was the fucking poetry club, stupid,” 

“Stupid? I thought you’re the big bad Saporta, why do you talk like you're Hannah Montana?” William whispers, he smiles looking in Gabe’s eyes. Gabe wishes he could read William’s mind, like Edward Cullen.

“What?” Gabe questions a little louder to William. William glances over Gabe's shoulder a little. 

“Do you want to go to the courtyard and smoke cigarettes?” William questions, he takes Gabe’s hand that was previously clutched on his sweater. “I’m bored and I know you don’t have to wake up Pete,” 

“You always seem to be uh,  _ bored  _ when we talk. Don’t you Beckett?” Gabe says. They start walking to the blocked off part of the courtyard. They keep close to each other, but they don’t hold hands.

It’s not that people don’t know William, because they definitely do; his dad defends half of their parents probably, but he just doesn’t look the most friendly. This realization comes to William’s head when Gabe says “What’s up man!” to his third person on their way outside. When they got outside though William wishes they had gone to his room because he can already hear the jokes from the teenagers. 

“We can just sit behind the fence,” Gabe says to William, “Let me give you a boost,” Gabe says as they approach the fence. William whips around nervously, but Gabe is already lifting him up. 

“Nice hips,” Gabe says as William jumps over (and falls) to the other side. Gabe climbs the fence and trips a little as he gets down. They both sit down leaning their heads on the black fence. 

“Do you have a light?” William asks Gabe, Gabe quirks an eyebrow as if that’s even a question. 

“How do you have a whole carton but not a lighter?” Gabe lights William’s cigarette making the other feel like he’s finally at peace. William shakes his head and just starts smoking. 

“You know I’m not dating Ryan right?” William exhales the smoke from his cigarette. Gabe rolls his eyes at William, “What?” William questions.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Gabe’s speech is soft, but he frowns as William meets his eyes. 

“Even if I was dating Ryan,” William starts to articulate, “ _ we _ aren’t doing anything here,” 

“Yeah, William I fucking  _ know _ ,” Gabe sharply interrupts, “we could be, but you know, you’re in your own  _ little  _ world with Carden,” Gabe starts to yell, he gets the attention of the other students in the process. William shakes his head, he drops his cigarette in the mud. 

“And we were having such a good time,” Gabe murmurs as he sees William walk away to the front of the school probably trying to find an entrance, he'll say he was in the garden. Gabe sits on the grass feet laying in the mud, why can’t he figure out William. 

Classes catch up with William and he doesn’t know why he even agreed to run for president by the time he looks over all his missing work. William doesn’t know how he ended up in the common room at 4 pm. There was nothing wrong with what William and Mike used to do besides, Mike is straight now, so William doesn’t pay much mind to it when Mike walks in on him, dick in hand thinking about Gabe Saporta and Ashton Kutcher (don’t ask), but that also meant William had to leave for the afternoon to avoid tension. Unfortunately, going into the common area was a mistake. First, it was him seeing Sisky basically eye fucking a freshman girl which made William immediately look in the other direction. Secondly, Gerard was there wearing a Chanel tweed women’s coat flirting with both of his boyfriends, but once William made eye contact with all he was met with was a wink. It wasn’t that Gabe was staring at William, it was more that Ryan Ross was walking towards William not giving Gabe a chance to even walk up to him. 

“Wanna go over sonnets with me?” Ryan asks as he approaches William. Ryan is wearing a purple oversized sweater with a pair of black slacks.

“I'm kind of feeling tired honestly, I just want to sit down,” William smiles at him. Ryan smiles back. 

“are you feeling okay in your head?” Ryan takes William’s hands to see if they’re clammy. William sees Gabe get up out of the corner of his eye. 

“I’ve just been feeling lightheaded,” William says calmly. William sits down on the couch that can only hold three people. Ryan sits next to him, but leaves some room for him to stretch his legs. 

“Did you remember to call your mom?” Ryan only asks this because William told him to remind him two days earlier. The two have been spending a lot of time together bonding about being plopped into boarding school and comparing their daddy issues. Ryan says he never had a mom, which William really doesn’t understand because William asked his grandfather about Ryan’s family and supposedly Ryan’s mom left after a huge argument that took place in the las vegas country club, but Ryan wouldn’t remember this since he must have been two at the time. 

“I texted her last night, I think she’s busy though,” William says, he takes out his sidekick to show Ryan the text message that has been left unanswered. Ryan opens his copy of  _ To the Lighthouse _ by Virginia Woolf that has at least a passage full of highlights, William reads over Ryan’s shoulder. William was happy to take Ryan under his wing, and Ryan was more than happy he had a guy like William to show him around.

“Ross, can you scoot over?” Gabe says standing in front of the two sitting on the couch. William rolls his eyes once he hears Gabe’s voice. “Sorry,” He’s sweet with his words, he doesn’t know Ryan like he knows Gerard per say, but If you ask William he barely knows Gabe, “I just want to watch Tyra,” Gabe says to Ryan, Ryan nods. Gabe ends up sitting in the middle of William and Ryan which Gabe thinks a year ago would bother Mike Carden, but Gabe just smiles as he watches TV. 

“Do you like Tyra?” Gabe asks, nudging William’s shoulder, William says an offhanded “yeah,” and Ryan just nods as he reads the sonnets in his hand. Gabe sighs and turns to Ryan. 

“Do you mind getting me a water bottle? I’ll pay you back, I’m just feeling light-headed, sorry,” Gabe says softly, and Ryan is immediately up. Gabe thinks Ryan cares too much about people’s wellbeing. 

“Why did you do that?” William asks, he doesn’t look at Gabe, he keeps his eyes on the TV. 

“Come on William I haven’t really talked to you, you’re always with Sisky or Carden, I just  _ missed  _ you,” 

“When are you going to stop? You can’t  _ miss  _ me, you don’t even know me,” William talks with his hands as he keeps his eyes on the TV, he can feel Gabe’s eyes on him. 

“I would like to know you, but you keep pushing me and pushing me away, William, you can’t even look at me,” Gabe crosses his arms and tries to sink into the couch. 

“Why are you even running in the election, you don't care?!” William exclaims, almost yelling, making other students look over at them, again. 

“You know why, you basically said it on stage, but why are you running? A bet, I could buy you liquor, you don’t need your ex-boyfriend to make bets with you,” 

“Don’t call him that, he’s not-we were never boyfriends,” William’s voice is suddenly strained, “Or at least don’t say that too him, he always gets so weird when other people brings it up other than-”

“Do you even talk about it? Mike seems like a good guy. I don’t think he would drag you along,” Gabe pushes a strand of hair behind William’s ear, but the tone in his voice is something villainous. 

“He’s straight, I’m...I’m finding myself, probably going to end with me spending my trust fund marrying a guy in italy,” 

“You know, some people say I look Italian,” Gabe chuckles, William gives him a weak smile. Gabe nods and puts his feet on the table in front of him. “You could always dote on Sisky if Italy doesn’t end well...or me,” Gabe smiles. 

“Sisky is too young, besides I can’t do that to Jason,” William says, he leans into Gabe’s shoulder, he wonders where Ryan is. 

“I never actually met Jason, but I think my dad knew him,” Gabe says, Jason was the one ghost Gabe couldn’t picture, but he’s okay with that. “You know I can buy you liquor,” Gabe says, “and not in that sleazy  _ Superbad  _ I’m trying to sleep with you way, even though you know I’m totally trying to,” William raises his eyebrows at Gabe, “I’m just saying, the race doesn’t matter to me, I’d rather be hanging out with you and if you don’t care about the race or being president and are just doing for the bet I could….supply you,” Gabe says. 

“You sound like a drug dealer,” William deadpans, Gabe gives him a look, “I’ll think about it okay, let’s just watch Tyra and when Ryan comes you will leave,” William is stern, Gabe nods and puts his arm around William’s shoulder. “The teachers are gonna write you up,” William chuckles. 

“Did you ever watch Romeo and Juliet? the one with Leo?” Gabe questions. William is perplexed by this question, why the hell would Gabe even be asking it in the first place. 

“uhm, yeah when I was in London I saw it in theatres when it was the 10 year anniversary,” William says, before Gabe could say another word Ryan came back with two water bottles in hand. 

“You don’t need to pay me back,” Ryan says, “Here Bill, you too,” Ryan passes William a water bottle that’s bigger than his head. Gabe rolls his eyes when the word “Bill” is used in casual conversation. I thought you weren’t doing anything, Gabe thinks as he looks at William. Gabe is probably being overdramatic, he thinks to himself. William gives Gabe a look. 

“Thanks Ryan. I have to go though, you know government awaits,” Gabe jokes. William still looks at Gabe as if he’s annoyed, Ryan is just lost in the conversation. 

“What do you think I should do with my inheritance?” Gerard asks Gabe as he and Gabe are watching some random episode of the _Sopranos_ on his laptop, there’s really nothing else for them to watch. Gerard is and will always be rich, to put it short. Despite Gerard probably not talking to his family after given his inheritance he will still be loaded, Donna Way doesn’t like her sons wearing The Gap. Unlike Diego Saporta, a man who believes that his sons would be better off learning how to live on their own, struggle a little in that process. 

“Whatever you want, “ Gabe says, he pauses the show on the laptop that the school  _ totally  _ doesn’t know he has because he follows the rules and didn’t pay a teacher off to keep it in his room,  _ totally _ . “I mean, why don’t you move to France marry a rich guy-or even a poor guy, you can marry whoever you want, you’re filthy rich,” Gabe feels like he’s talking to William again, it’s not his fault everyone wants to marry a rich European guy. Gabe closes his laptop and Gerard just stares. Gabe knows he’s right, but nobody talks to the Way brothers like that expect the Saportas, Gerard isn’t used to hearing the truth. 

“Do you know if William just smokes all the time or is he just like, you know?” Gabe asks motioning his hands towards Gerard. 

“Are you trying to say that William and I have the same smoking habits?” Gerard asks, narrowing his eyes, “because then yeah, we just smoke because it makes us look cool,” Gerard and Gabe start laughing, but stop when Pete walks in with Mikey. Gerard looks over to Gabe, kinda wide eyed to why his sophomore brother would be on the junior level with Pete Wentz

“I-uhm hey guys, Gerard, Mikey was looking for you, something about Bill,” Pete says, he smirks at Gabe. 

‘Yeah he’s like freaking out about something, you weren’t picking up your phone?” Mikey is fiddling with the charm on his phone as he’s talking quickly to his brother, almost tripping over the words. Nobody knows why Mikey has a Tinkerbell charm, but his answer was always something about how the green matches his eyes. Nobody even looks at Mikey’s eyes though, Gabe thinks, it’s not Gabe’s fault….Mikey does wear glasses. 

  
  


“Are you sure you don’t know?” Gerard asks, kind of simmering into the question, smirking as he looks at the two. Gabe knows what Gerard’s doing, he thinks it’s weird as hell but he stays quiet in an effort to know what’s going on with his competitor. 

“Oh my god,” Mikey says exasperated, “just come on, you’re pissing me off,” his tone changes and his eyes become narrow at his brother. Gerard rolls his eyes but gets himself off of Gabe’s bed. 

William has Bambi eyes, as much as he doesn’t like to admit, his eyes and legs are probably his best feature. Gerard thinks his eyes look better when he’s crying, and that’s what Gerard is seeing right now. Gerard thinks about his and William’s friendship, very Paris and Nicole esque, but William thinks it’s more Donald and Mickey. Mikey can’t come into William’s room, why? Because William said no, and it’s gonna be even worse if Mike or Sisky show up, god forbid he has some alone time with the person who understands him the best he thinks. He’s tired of people wanting to take him to débutante balls or asking him to “come to the lake house this weekend because oh it’d be oh so nice?” after their father needs a lawyer. 

“He doesn’t matter,” Gerard says quietly, “you know he doesn’t matter William,” 

“I don’t know like he was there for me when nobody else was, and he-he-doesn’t like Gabe and I don’t want it to be a thing, it doesn’t need to be another thing,” 

“Bill,” Gerard is tired, “Mike, isn’t gonna change,  _ okay _ ? You worked on him for a year, maybe even a year and six months, he didn’t even date you William-” William sobs a little harder. Maybe it’s harder to share a dorm with your ex-lover/best friend than William thought. “Besides, you have Gabe kind of,” Gerard reassures him, hugging him as they sit next to each other on the bed. The door is closed, everyone is supposed to be at mass so if they find them they’re also in trouble. 

“Gabe is….Gabe is complicated,” William is  _ also  _ tired. “It’s not like I don’t like him, I know he likes me, it’s just-,” William looks at Gerard in that melodramatic type of way that you only see in movies, like in 80s movies or that one about vampires Gerard wants to see soon. 

“That’s just an excuse,” Gerard groans, “you’re just making things harder for yourself, he’s hot-”

“Don't say that ew,’ William interrupts

“-whatever gabe is  _ smart _ , and he’s  _ hot  _ go for it, deal with it, or someone else is gonna take him,” Gerard states. 

“He’s also a dick, he can’t compromise on anything ever,” William says in a matter the fact kind of way, “wait, you think someone else is gonna go for him?” 

“Well, I don’t know for sure, but like I’ve seen Ross eyeing him up,”    
  
“That’s not  _ real _ ,” William is certain, he gets a cigarette out of his desk and cracks a window open. “Ryan has a boyfriend or a girlfriend, he has someone in Vegas, as alone as he might seem, mommy and daddy issues,” William wants to laugh, but he doesn’t think that’s a good look for him. 

“Stop ruining your lungs, dumbass” Gerard snatches the cigarette from him. “Why don’t you just convince Gabe to buy you liquor and then you guys can make out?” Gerard has a sheepish grin. 

“I’m not a prostitute and he’s not a john, do I look like adam’s dad?” William says without thinking, Gerard sighs. 

“Deal with your shit or you’re not gonna have anyone, okay? Stop moping around, men like you, you’re rich, what more could you want?” Gerard Way, the son of a millionaire says to William, the son of a lawyer. 

“I should just follow a band on tour, like  _ Almost Famous _ or something like that, would you come with me, Gerard?” William asks, Gerard and him have never been that close, but they’re in each other’s 8 and that’s saying something considering Gerad one time met Paris Hilton at a mall in Beverly Hills. 

“Sure, just wait till we’re done with Boston,” Gerard smiles. 

Maybe Gabe is fed up, or maybe he’s impatient, but he’s kind of done with this William bullshit, he’s not done with William, he’s just done with this waiting around for William to lose. Nobody in this school really cares about the student council, it’s more about who has the best Juicy bag (Hayley) from home and whose sister got pregnant at spring break (also Hayley). Student elections end in a day, 

“William, open your door,” Gabe says, knocking. Mike Carden opens the door,  _ oh _ , Gabe thinks. 

“He’s focusing on his winning speech, he can’t make out with you today,” Mike smiles. Gabe rolls his eyes. “Mike closes the door a little so he’s peeking out his head only, “Go for Pete, I heard he’s easy,” Mike smirks, and then he shuts the door. Gabe steps back as the door closes, he hears some moving around and speech, he doesn’t exactly know what’s being said though, then the door opens just a little, it’s Adam or Sisky, whatever the curly-haired kid that’s always hanging around Bill. 

“William says, that uhm, he wanted me to tell you-” 

“Shut  _ up _ ,” William pushes Sisky out of Gabe’s view from the door, there’s something muffling from Sisky but Gabe chooses to ignore him, “we can hang out like later, I’ll text you later,” William closes the door.

Gabe doesn’t have William’s number. 


End file.
